A Tale of Fog and Magic
by Mird
Summary: Edward attempts to bring his brothers body back and as the price, the Truth sends him to another country with huge gaps in his memory. Crossover with Harry Potter, rated T cuz the ratings guide confuses me, no yaoi I finally finished it! Party time!
1. Chapter 1

**Edit: I'm too frightened to read even one word. Ladies and gents, are you aware that this was my very first story on this website? No joke! It's filled to the brim with fail! The characters are OOC, the grammar is enough to blind all who dare to glance upon it, the plot is thin on the ground (assuming it's even there at all), and, above all, IT'S A HARRY POTTER CROSSOVER. If 'HPxFMA' doesn't spell 'fail', then I don't know what does. Please don't judge my writing by this. I've improved a lot since this was written. I'm still not as good as I want to be, but I've come a long way.**

Chapter 1

Ed finished drawing a large transmutation circle on the floor and stepped back to survey his work. "Does this look right to you?" He asked his younger brother.

"Uh-huh, the circle looks fine. But....What about the price?" Al asked for the millionth time.

"I already told you, it's all taken care of." Ed reassured. He had made up his mind. He would give whatever price he had to; no matter what, he was going to get his brother's body back. Ed threw the red coat he always wore onto the floor to get it out of the way. "Okay, let's get started!"

The two brothers kneeled on opposite sides of the circle. They had spent over an hour drawing it exactly right. Nothing could go wrong, or it would all be for nothing. "Ready?" Asked Ed. Al nodded. They both clapped there hands and placed them on the ground in front of them.

Immediately light erupted from the middle of the circle. Al was frightened, but Ed felt only determination. He looked up at his brother and said only one word before he was taken to the truth.

"Goodbye."

* * *

Ed found himself in a pure white space with the gate rising up high above his head in front of him. In between him and the gate sat Truth, faceless and barely there.

"So, another arrogant fool thought they could perform a miracle?" It said. "I believe I've met you before. What do you want this time?"

"My Brother." Said Ed in a strangely commanding voice. "Give my brother back. I don't care what the price is, just give his body back. I know it's in here."

"So that's what you want, hmm? Well. This could be quite fun after all..." The Truth grinned and faded into nothing.

The gate, the truth, everything was gone and there was only black. He was suspended in it. It felt like being in water only it was all dark and filled with a deep deep silence that seems louder than the loudest noise in the world. Suddenly, the darkness was lit up with the faces of everyone he had ever seen dead. There were dozens of people, too many for him to count. There was Nina, Alexander, his mother....He felt dizzy, like his head was going to explode. He wanted the faces to just go away. He tried to close his eyes, but they were still there, taunting him in the darkness.

Then there was only one face, one that looked a lot like his own. The eyes were both angry and sad at once as the mouth opened and yelled at him. "How could you, brother? How could you just leave? This isn't what I wanted! It's not worth it!" Ed flinched. Was this really Al? No, it had to be one of the Truth's tricks...."Edward, I hate you!" And with that, Al vanished.

* * *

It was near the end of August. The air was hot and sticky and there were very few clouds in the sky. Most people were inside on this day, enjoying one of the last times they could sit lazily inside and relax before autumn. Because of this, no one was outside at the moment that an extra house appeared out of nowhere on Grimmauld place with a group of teenagers coming out the door.

"Well, this is it!" Said a small, blond girl. "The last time we go outside before term starts next week. You'd better enjoy it because there's no way Mrs. Weasley will allow us to leave the house again until then."

"Yeah, yeah, we know Tonks." Said Ron. "Come on Harry, let's look around." With that, he grabbed his friend's hand and walked off in the direction of a park.

"Wait for me!" Said Ginny angrily, running behind them. "You'd better wait for me Ron!" They two boys that she was following broke into a run.

"Oh dear, I'd better follow them too...Knowing those three, they'll somehow manage to make trouble if I don't. Where'll you be Hermione?" Tonks asked hurriedly.

"I'll just be at the library. Don't worry, I'll be fine alone!" She added quickly. "I doubt they'll have any magic books, but it's still worth it to check." Tonks gave a quick smile and the two went their separate ways.

Hermione walked at a quick pace to the local library. She marched up the three stone steps and into the musty interior. It was a small, under furnished library filled with rather old books that had definitely seen better days. It wasn't a town that was incredibly interested in good literature.

It took her less than half an hour to look through every book in the building. Even so, by the time she left the sun had set and the sky was beginning to darken. She set off quickly back towards number 12, taking a short cut through a dark alley. Her footsteps echoed eerily against the walls. She kept her face forward, watching where she stepped. Suddenly, she stopped walking and looked in horror at what lay on the ground in front of her.

It was a person! He was small with strangely long blond hair that was worn in a short braid and was starting to come undone. His black clothing was ripped and torn and soaked with his blood. He lay sprawled on the cold stone ground, unconscious. Before a single thought passed through her mind, the boy was up in Hermione's arms. She ran as fast as she could, arms straining, skidding on the slippery ground. She didn't wonder who he was or where he came from; all she knew was that he needed help. She didn't stop until she got to number 12 Grimmauld place where the others were waiting for her. When they saw what she was carrying, their eyes widened and Ginny opened her mouth to ask a question, but Hermione spoke first.

"Someone help! Please!"

* * *

Edward woke up in a bed, in a house, in a place where he had never been before. His head felt lighter, like some weight that had been holding it down had suddenly been lifted. "What am I doing here?" He wondered out loud. One word popped into his head: Price. He didn't know what it meant.

Ed sat up further in his bed and looked around the room. It was gray and made of stone. There wasn't much in it at all, just the bed he was in and a painting of a rather severe looking woman on the wall. The eyes in the painting seemed to move. Ed shuddered and looked away.

There were no windows in this room, but he located the door easily. He stood up and flinched. His injuries hadn't even started healing yet. he couldn't even remember how he had gotten them.

Ed walked over to the door and shook the handle. It wasn't locked. He stepped out into a short, dark hallway that ended in a flight of stairs. Ed stepped carefully down the stairs, knowing that something disastorous could happen at any moment and he wouldn't be prepared.

At the bottom of the stairs was another hallway. The difference about this one, though, was that it wasn't empty.

"Oh!" Exclaimed the large red-headed woman that was standing with Ed in the hallway. "You're awake! I'm so glad you're able to walk, but you really shouldn't be up yet. Afetr all, you're hurt very badly...Well, come downstairs and have something to eat, dinner's almost ready!" Mrs. Weasley grabbed Ed by the arm and dragged him down the stairs to the kitchen where the twins were helping set the table. Ed was furious with himself for getting found so easily by this woman while he ws trying to figure out where he was.

The table was set and the occupants of the house were seating themselves around it. "Looks like that kid you found is awake, Hermione!" Said a red-headed girl who was a little taller than Ed.

"Oh!" Said a bushy-haired girl. "I'm so glad you're awake! I was worried that you were..." Her voice trailed off.

"Well, I'm not dead, so there's no need to worry about that." Ed replied. "So, who are you people and what am I doing here?"

A ragged-looking man with black hair barked out a laugh that sounded kind of like a dog's. "You certainly like to get right to the point. Hermione here found you half dead on the street." The man pointed at the bushy-haired girl. "She brought you back here. Figure we could try fixing you up a bit after dinner. Might want to keep a little blood IN your body, not all over the street, don't you think?" He took his place at the table in between Ed and a boy with glasses and a scar on his forehead.

"My name's Sirius Black, by the way. And you are?" Said the man.

"I'm Edward Elric." He replied.

"Enough talk!" Said the woman that had brought Ed down to the kitchen earlier. "Let's eat!"

* * *

Over the course of dinner, Edward met everyone in the Black household. He mat Harry, Hermione, Tonks, Sirius, Lupin, all six Weasleys, even the creepy house elf, Kreacher. The food was delicious and he felt a million times better after eating it. Afetr the meal was finished and the dishes were cleared away, they got to work on figuring out how badly Ed was hurt.

Most of his cuts were cleaned out and bandaged and they gave him a strange medicine to stop him from bleeding more. (It was really a potion, but Ed doesn't need to know that.)

It was when he completely took off his jacket, instead of just slipping his left arm out to be looked at, that there was any surprise. A stunned silence filled the room.

"Ed..."Said Hermione worriedly. "What happened to...Where....Where is your arm?"

Out of all the people in the room, it was Ed who was most surprised. 'What happened to my arm? Why is it metal? Wouldn't I remember if I lost an arm?' He thought hard, trying to remember what had happened to him. The memory was there, he was sure of it. But it seemed like it was covered by fog, and he couldn't see it.

He stood up abruptly and left the room, walking as fast as he could without running up the stairs and into the room where he had first woken up in. He sat down on the bed and tried as hard as he could to remember something, anything, but he realized with horror that there were many memories like the one he had experienced downstairs; still there, but clouded over, unable to be seen.

He remembered what he had learned in school as well as what he had been taught by his alchemy teacher. But about this teacher, he remembered nothing. He knew there was someone he worked for that he hated, but he couldn't remember their name or anything about them. He remembered a feeling of horror as something he needed was taken away from him, but counldn't recall what it was. Most importantly, he remembered that there was someone he cared about more than anything else and would give anything for. But that was all he knew.

He didn't remember Alphonse.


	2. Chapter 2

I need to clear some things up really quick, so you can waste about one minute of your life waiting for me to do it.

In chapter one I forgot the disclaimer so I'm going to put it here- DISCLAIMER: J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter. Hiromu Arakawa owns Fullmetal Alchemist. Neither J.K. Rowling or Hiromu Arakawa is my name.

I am not a good writer, and I am a procrastinator. You have been warned….

I'm going to try to update every two days, but I will make no promises.

The reason I put 'No yaoi' in the summary is because I despise yaoi fan fiction with my very heart and soul and take pride in the fact that none of that crap is included in this story. (My sincerest apologies to all those yaoi fan girls out there)

On with the story!!!!

Chapter 2

Ed heard a knock on his door. He remained silent, not caring whether they came in or not. There was a pause, then the door opened with a creak and Hermione stepped into the room.

"Ed?" She asked timidly. "What DID happen to your arm?"

Ed looked up. "I don't know." He said, but that was all.

"Oh come on, that's the worst answer I've ever heard. If you don't want to tell anyone, just say so." Hermione sniffed. Ed shook his head.

"No, it's not that. I really don't know. I don't remember. It's like the memory's still there, but I can't see it. Like a foggy day."

"Like amnesia?"

"Not really. I still remember some things, but I don't know how I know them."

"Hmm...Strange.... Well, what do you remember?"

"Well, I remember what I learned in school. Math and stuff like that. I remember everything I learned about alchemy..."

"Alchemy?" Hermione cut in, sounding interested. "You know alchemy? I heard that's really difficult."

"It is." Replied Ed, nodding.

"So you remember what you learned. Do you remember any people?"

"No. I remember people's personalities, or what I thought of them, but not their names or what they looked like or any other details."

Hermione looked even more interested with every word. "Can you give an example?"

"Well, I had an alchemy teacher..." Ed shuddered, then quickly continued. "And there was someone I cared about a lot.... Not remembering who it was is driving me crazy. And there's someone I hate too. I work for him..."

"Work for him? You have a job?"

"Yeah, I guess I do. Weird...."

"You surely couldn't be old enough to work. How old are you?"

"Fifteen..." Hermione looked surprised. "What's with that look on your face? Are you surprised or something?"

"Oh, it's nothing. It's just, you seem a little short for your age-"

And this is where Ed says some things that I cannot repeat. After all, Ed does not like being called short. He'll always remember that.

* * *

When Dumbledore heard about the strange boy Hermione had found, he wasted no time. He appeared at number 12 Grimmauld place within the hour and asked to see Ed. The two disappeared into another room for half an hour. Every so often, blue light would flash out from under the door.

When they finally came out, Dumbledore went to the kitchen to talk with the other adults of the house. No sooner than the door had closed, Fred and George were passing out extendable ears. All seven children stuck one end in their ear and the other under the kitchen door, listening to the conversation that was taking place.

"...Has amazing alchemic skills. I believe that with help from a few spells this power could be converted into magic. It would be wonderful for him to attend Hogwarts until he gets his memories back and is able to return home."

"Well, I suppose that could work. We'll have to get him all his school things..."

"We'll give him some money from the student fund."

"I think it's a great idea. Plus, there's nowhere else for him to go during the year, unless he wants to stay at this old dump, which I somewhat doubt."

It had been decided. Ed was going to Hogwarts.

* * *

When they arrived at diagon alley Mrs. Weasley briskly told everyone where to go. "Ron, Harry, you take Ed to get your things. Ginny, you and Hermione come with me..."

Ron didn't bother listen to the rest of his mother's assignments, and with a muttered "C'mon..." grabbed Harry and Ed and went off on his way.

The first place they went was the robe shop, as Ed had none and Ron needed new ones since he had grown to the height of nearly six feet over the summer, which seemed to annoy Ed for unknown reasons.

Next was the bookstore, where they all purchased the required books for fifth years as well as a number of extra books for Ed that contained strange symbols and circles.

The three of them went to various other shops to buy owl treats, potion ingredients, quills, ink and scales, among other things. They stopped at Magical Menagerie and asked Ed if he wanted a pet, but he refused. The only thing left to get was Ed's wand.

They stopped in front of a rather old building covered in peeling paint and dust. A sign over the door read Ollivanders: Makers of fine wands since 382 B.C.

"Well, here it is." Said Ron. "Better finish up with this shopping stuff fast or Mum'll have our heads..." Ed followed the other two into the shop, looking curiously at the hundreds of boxes that covered the walls.

"Ah!" Came a small voice from behind a corner. "Customers, I see!" A stooped old man walked slowly out to meet them. "I'm mister Ollivander. You're here for a wand, I'm guessing?"

Ed nodded silently, not sure of how to react. The man got to work immediately, pulling wands out of boxes and handing them to Ed before grabbing them back and replacing them with a muttered "No, not that one..." and a shake of his head. Ed couldn't help but feel that was man was completely insane.

Eventually, the old man handed Ed a wand and, before Ed could even wave it as he was supposed to, grinned and placed it back into the box, handing it to it's new owner.

"Here's your wand, sir, an excellent one too. Eleven inches, mahogany, great for transfiguration. That will be seven Galleons, please." Ed paid and then followed Harry and Ron out the door, completely confused.

The met the others back at the leaky cauldron and headed home to relax as much as they could for the next three days before the start of term.

* * *

Ed spent the rest of his time at Grimmauld place talking to Hermione, who was trying to make him remember his past. She was keeping a notebook about it, jotting down any memory that Ed could form. They were making progress, but not much.

"Do you remember anything about your job? How you got it at such a young age, or what you did even?" Hermione asked, quill poised above a piece of parchment.

"No, I don't remember what it was or how I got it. Um..." Ed sat for a second trying to remember any phrase or word that had something to do with his life. Two words flitted across his mind. "Full Metal." He said.

Hermione looked at him. "What's that mean?"

"I'm not sure."

Hermione sighed. "Let's try again tomorrow...Oh wait, never mind, tomorrow we go to kings cross.... Oh well. Tell me if you remember anything. Good night."

"Good night." Ed watched Hermione leave the room, then turned off the light and fell asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

First of all, I have something to say about pairings: Hermione WILL like Ed, I've decided that, and Ed will like Hermione...A little. But of course, he still has vague memories of Winry, so he won't like her THAT much, mainly because I'm overly obsessed with the EdxWinry pairing.

Look below this sentence for the pathetic apologies.

Sorry this chapter's so short…I'm not good at writing anything dramatic or sad. When I try it sounds all awkward. Also, I'm bad at writing about the military people, mainly because I don't like any of them. Except Havoc. Havoc is awesome. Even though if he ever gets a girlfriend, she'll die off second-hand smoke, he's still awesome.

Chapter 3

_The two brothers kneeled on opposite sides of the circle. They had spent over an hour drawing it exactly right. Nothing could go wrong, or it would all be for nothing. "Ready?" Asked Ed. Al nodded. They both clapped there hands and placed them on the ground in front of them._

_Immediately light erupted from the middle of the circle....._

When Al woke up, the light was gone, as well as the light that had shown through the windows. Al couldn't see a thing.

He tried to stand up, but fell to the ground again because his legs were so weak. Al looked at his hand and noticed for the first time that it _was_ a hand. Al was nearly bursting with happiness and his mouth had become a wide smile. "Ed!" He said. "Ed, you did it! It worked! My body's back!" His voice echoed in the empty room. Al's smiled wavered for a second. "...Ed?" He asked. There was no answer. A wave of horror swept over him, remembering Ed's promise that the price had been taken care of. Al grabbed the red coat that was the only thing left of his brother and cried into it.

* * *

It had been hours since Ed and Al had gone into the basement of central headquarters and Roy was starting to worry. What were they doing, anyways, that required so much space and time? They had made him promise to make sure no one, including himself, went into the room they were using, but after several hours of waiting for them to return, he couldn't help himself. Roy walked down the many flights of stairs into the basement room, wondering the entire time what the two boys could be doing.

He reached the end of an old hallway, imprinting another set of footprints in the dust that covered the floor, and opened the door and called through.

"Full metal, how much longer will you be in there? I expected you to be back hours ago." No voice answered him, only a small sob. Surprised, he opened the door to find a small, thin boy crying into a piece of red fabric. The boy choked out a single word, and that was all it took for Roy to figure out who it was.

It was still Al's voice saying his brother's name, even through all the tears that should have been falling for the last four years, all released at one time. It was still Al crying out for the person he cared for most in the world, the person who didn't even know Al existed.

Roy lifted Al to his feet and supported him on the walk back up the stairs. He didn't allow the question he wanted most to ask to come out of his mouth, although he wondered about it for the entire trip up the stairs. Where in the world could Edward have gone?

* * *

Al spent the next few days in the hospital making sure his body hadn't become sick in all the time it had been separated from its soul. Roy visited him frequently, trying to gather the details of Ed's disappearance so he could organize a proper search party. It took a few days to get the full story because Al was reluctant to tell it, and when Roy did get the story, he came to the silent conclusion that Ed was surely dead, but he didn't say it out loud. Not in front of Al at least.

While Roy and the others organized their search, Al was making arrangements of his own. He was determined to find his brother under any circumstances. He would go anywhere that could lead to a clue of Ed's existence, although he admitted it would be hard to do alone. After all, he couldn't have possibly gone through the frequent journeys for the philosopher's stone without his brother at his side. This journey would be ten times harder now that he required food and sleep. He needed someone to travel with.

With the rest of Ed's research money for the year, Al knew he could last a while on his search. Roy agreed to let him go with it, which was a slight surprise to Al. He had a companion too. Winry wanted just as much as him to find Ed.


	4. Chapter 4

I'm very sorry for the horrible chapter 3. I couldn't think of anything, but I had to put in some details about Al. Al is to awesome to be ignored.

A lot of people have been bugging me about pairings. The thing is, I don't really know what their definition of pairing is. If a pairing is considered as "Two people really liking each other, going on dates, always talking to each other and kissing" then there aren't any parings. But if pairing is considered as "Someone liking someone else and the other person possibly liking them back" then yes, there are pairings. So there will be a couple of people that like someone else, but it won't become the plot because that would be quite boring.

Chapter 4

Early the next morning, Dumbledore had come to the house to cast some kind of spell on Ed that, apparently, converted his alchemic skill into magical energy. Whatever that meant.

Hermione was very interested in what the spell had been and spent a lot of time trying to interrogate Ed about it, although he knew little, if not less, about the spell than her, and was more interested in packing his things before it was time to leave.

The house was in chaos. Fred and George had hit Ginny in the head with their suitcases, Both Mrs. Weasley and Mrs. Black were screaming at the top of their lungs, and Ed could barely take a step without tripping over something or having someone else trip over him.

It truly felt like a relief when all the students that would be attending Hogwarts, as well as Mrs. Weasley, stepped out into the weak September sunlight. They walked on foot for twenty minutes to reach kings cross station. Ed stared happily at the sight before him, the trains billowing smoke, passengers towing their luggage behind them. It was familiar; he had seen this scene a million times before. It felt nice to be looking at something at least slightly ordinary.

The familiarity of the situation didn't last, though, because at all of the other train station's he'd been to, there had never been one with a barrier between platform nine and platform ten that required passengers to run at it in order to access their train.

Once on the platform, everyone gave a quick farewell to Mrs. Weasley and hurried onto the train, determined to get a seat before all the good ones were taken. The train whistled, the train began to move, and they were off. Where they were headed, Ed could only guess.

* * *

On the train, Fred and George quickly disappeared to find their friend Lee, leaving Harry, Ron, Ginny, Hermione and Ed standing in the corridor.

"Well, shall we find a compartment then?" Asked Harry. Ron and Hermione looked at each other guiltily. They gave a hurried explanation as to why they couldn't ride in the same compartment as him, something along the lines of "We're prefects. We have to patrol the corridors..." Although Ed wasn't quite sure. He hadn't been listening.

Hermione and Ron finished their explanation and the corridor was suddenly filled with an awkward silence. Hermione looked slightly guilty as she took Ron by the arm and left to go somewhere closer to the front of the train.

"Come on," Said Ginny, "Let's go get a seat." Harry nodded and started off in the opposite direction of the two prefects. At the very end of the train they had finally determined that there were no open seats. A round-faced boy was standing there too, looking confused.

"Hello Neville." Said Harry.

"I can't find a place to sit..." Neville replied sheepishly.

"What are you taking about? There's a seat right there!" Ginny said, pointing through the window into the compartment next to them, which contained only one other student. Neville mumbled something that no one could quite make out as Ginny pushed open the door and stepped inside.

"Hello Luna." She said brightly. The girl sitting by the Luna looked up and stared at them with a pair of huge eyes that seemed to blink less than they should. She nodded silently then turned her attention back to the magazine she was reading. Upside down.

Luna was strange. Neville, Harry and Ed all came to a silent agreement on that. Everything about her, from her necklace of butter-beer caps to the wand behind her left ear, could be described by that single word.

Luna and Ginny were talking to each other and the other three weren't extremely exited at the thought of joining in.

Neville was showing them a small plant that looked a bit like a gray cactus with boils.

"It's really rare." He said. "Watch." Neville took a quill out of his bag and poked the cactus. Instantly, thick green liquid squirted from every one of the boils. Ed ducked, since he was so close to the floor to begin with, so most of the stuff headed in his direction went over his head and hit the window.

Harry and Neville, however, weren't so lucky, and each got aan entire face full of the stuff. Neville apologized quickly, right at the moment that the compartment door opened. Standing there was a very pretty girl with long, shiny black hair. Harry blushed when he saw her, although it was hard to tell.

"Hello Harry.... Is this a bad time?" Harry nodded silently. "Oh...Well I'll see you later then." The girl gave a small smile and left.

Harry groaned and sat back in his seat. Ginny did a quick spell and the compartment was completely clean again. They were sitting in awkward silence again, until Neville began to speak.

"So who are you exactly?" He asked looking at Ed.

"Um...I'm Ed. I'm joining fifth year this year."

"Really? I never knew anyone could join in a year besides first year. Why are you joining so late?"

"He's from another country." Harry said quickly. "They didn't know he had magical ability until now." Ed nodded to back up Harry's story. Ed pulled out a book and started to read and the others did the same.

* * *

An hour later, Ron and Hermione slid open the door of the compartment and came in.

"I'm starving." Said Ron, grabbing a chocolate frog off the seat. "I wish being a prefect wasn't so exhausting."

"There's a girl and boy prefect for each house." Said Hermione, who looked slightly annoyed. "The Slytherin ones are Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson, that old cow..."

"Who's Hufflepuff?" Asked Harry.

"Ernie Macmillan and Hannah Abbott..." Said Ron. "Anthony Goldstein and Padma Patil for Ravenclaw."

"What's a Hufflepuff?" Asked Ed. Neville looked at him strangely as Hermione answered.

"Hufflepuff is one of the four houses at Hogwarts. In first year you get sorted into one of the houses based on your qualities. The houses are Hufflepuff Ravenclaw, Gryffindor and Slytherin. I suppose you'll have to be sorted too, I wonder which house you'll be in..."

"Hermione you sound like a history book." Said Ron as a unwrapped another chocolate frog.

* * *

Everyone in the compartment had been quiet for a long time when the door opened again. Standing in the doorway was a white-blond boy with a larger boy on his right and his left.

"What do you want?" Asked Harry, barely looking up.

"Manners, Potter, or I'll give you detention. You see I, unlike you, have been made a prefect, which means I, unlike you, have the power to hand out punishments."

"Yeah," replied Harry, "but you, unlike me are a git, so get out and leave us alone."

Malfoy's lip curled and he turned his attention to Ed, who was still reading silently. "Who's this?" he asked.

"That's Ed. He's joining fifth year."

"Really, this little guy's a fifth year?"

Ed looked up instantly and snapped his book shut. "And who, may I ask," He said, "Are you calling LITTLE?"

"You, of course. What, do you have a problem with that, you shrimpy little midget-"

Ed stood up and punched Malfoy in the face. (And not with his left fist, either) Malfoy's nose began to bleed and he fell to the ground.

"WHO exactly were you calling little?" Said a very very angry Ed. Crabbe and Goyle weren't quite sure what to do, now that the only person in their group with a brain bigger than a peanut was on the ground.

"C'mon Crabbe, Goyle let's go." Malfoy said, his nose still bleeding. He got up and they ran down the corridor.

Ed came back into the compartment, sat down, and continued to read.

* * *

Yes, I know that almost every Harry Potter/fma fanfic has Hermione explaining the Hogwarts houses to Ed. I also know that almost every Harry Potter/fma fanfic has a part with Malfoy meeting Ed and Ed beating him up and/or freaking out. But what else could have happened when Malfoy came in? Malfoy and Ed become friends?......Actually, that would make an interesting story. To late to change it now though. Oh well...


	5. Chapter 5

Sorry it took so long to update. My sister took all the wires and such out of my laptop as a 'joke' and I couldn't get on the internet for a week. -_- I'll try to make the next chapter longer, and put it up sooner too. No promises though.

Chapter 5

They had finally arrived at Hogwarts. Most of the students were already in the Great Hall and Ed was about to join them when he heard someone call his name.

"Edward Elric, you are to come over here. Quickly, quickly, we have to do this fast!" Said a tall, stern witch in a rushed voice. Ed walked over, vaguely wondering why he was going somewhere different than the rest of the students.

He followed the witch into a tiny classroom next to the giant doors of the great hall. Sitting on a stool in the middle of the room was a tattered old hat that looked like it could fall apart at any second.

"We have to do this fast, the hat is needed in a few minutes to sort the first years. Sit, sit, we don't have all day." Edward sat down, feeling rushed. The witch grabbed the hat and put it on his head. He waited for something to happen, not quite sure what to expect.

Ed sat, feeling slightly ridiculous, as the hat began to speak.

"Interesting," said the hat, "very interesting. You're brave, I see, smart too. Loyal, ambitious....You'd fit in fine in any one of the houses. Well, this is the hardest decision I've had to make in about four years, and I really don't want to rush it, but the old witch is in such a hurry it seems I'll have to. GRYFFINDOR!"

* * *

It was the first day of school. Ed woke up, yawned, and got out of bed, blinking at the sunlight. Most of the people in the Gryffindor dorm were heading back up from breakfast already. Ed groaned. He wouldn't be getting anything to eat until lunch. He stretched and walked sleepily down the stairs to the common room. Harry waved to him from across the room.

"Professor McGonagall told me to bring you your schedule since you didn't show up at breakfast. You've got the same classes as Ron and I." Ed nodded silently and took his schedule. His first class was history of magic, which he immediately learned was enough to put someone to sleep.

Potions class however, was, to say the least, very interesting. It was more scientific than anything else he had come across in this place and he had the feeling that he would do well at it, although he agreed with Harry and Ron's opinion of the teacher.

Edward's opinion on professors Trelawney and Umbridge didn't vary much from theirs either. The way Trelawney spook annoyed him greatly, acting like she knew something they didn't. Umbridge was all-around horrible, everyone agreed on that.

All in all, Ed was relieved when the day was finally over and everyone was in the common room doing homework.

Ed sat on a couch next to the fire, and Hermione sat down next to him.

"Did you remember anything?" She asked. Ed shook his head and she continued. "I've been looking for memory spells in the library, but I haven't found anything so far."

"There's a library here?" Asked Ed.

"Of course. Hogwarts has the best library in the magical world." She said. "In fact, we're going there right now."

* * *

After only a few minutes in the library, Ed realized that Hermione had been telling the truth: It WAS an amazing library. There were hundreds of shelves, thousands of books on every magical subject imagineable. In just the two sections that they looked in, there were enough books to keep him busy for months if he were to read them all.

Hermione had pulled him through the shelves, selecting a few books every once in a while, all of them about either memory charms or alchemy. Then she dragged him over to a table and set down the pile of books with a thud, stirring up a thin layer of dust. Within ten minutes they were both distracted by their books and within an hour they had read through most of the pile.

Madam Pince put up with them as long as she could, but at midnight she kicked them out and told them that It was past curfew and they should both be in their dorms.

It was during the walk back to the Gryffindor tower that Hermione saw it. It caught her eye, shining silver from the glow of the moonlight that shown in from the windows. A watch.

"Ed," she spoke up, "what's that? It looks like a watch."

Ed looked where she was pointing. It was a pocket watch. Where it came from, he had no idea, but it was his. He knew that much.

"It's mine." He said. "That's all I know about it."

"Is there anything inside? You should look."

Ed tried to open it, but it was sealed shut, probably with alchemy. Hermione took it and said a spell under her breath. It opened without a problem and showed the writing inside.

"Don't forget Oct.3.11..." Hermione read out loud. "October third year eleven. Did something happen that day?"

"I don't know." Ed said, sighing. "I can't believe it. I write specifically to remember a certain date, and I still forget it. This is hopeless."

"No, it's not. You'll remember you're past. I'm going to make sure of it. Now go to bed and get some sleep and be sure to tell me if you remember anything. Good night." Hermione replied stubbornly, resorting to the bossy manner of speech that she normally used.

Ed did partly as he was told. He went to bed, but he didn't sleep. He was tired of all these clouded-over memories. He wanted to remember something plainly, know what happened and why. He lay awake, staring at the ceiling, trying as hard as he could to remember, forcing himself to think. Then it came to him. The fire.

That's what had happened on October third. There was a fire. Satisfied with getting a straightforward memory, he closed his eyes and slept. He'd tell Hermione in the morning.

* * *

Another short chapter. It was really more of a summary than a chapter. Sorry… I know what's going to happen in the story, pretty much, and the next update will be reasonably soon. I hope.

Anyways, about this chapter, I only put Ed in Gryffindor because that's where Harry, Ron and Hermione are. I think he would fit well in any of the houses.


	6. Chapter 6

Another kind of short chapter. Ed remembers a lot of stuff and Malfoy forms a little plan…

Chapter 6

Two weeks passed without incident. Edward proved himself to be a brilliant student, although he got himself into detention a number of times. He spent most of his free time in the library with Hermione studying memory charms and alchemy. Ed had no more memories occur to him after the night with the watch, which was disappointing to Hermione as well as himself.

Hermione told him a lot about Harry, the boy with the black hair and nerdy glasses. Ed was interested in Harry's unusual past, and Harry seemed interested in Eds' too, although in a more suspicious way.

On the third week of term, the first trip to Hogsmeade arrived. It had already begun to get cold, and a few snowflakes descended from the gray sky.

The students wandered around the village in groups, enjoying their first time away fro school in weeks. Hermione was about to enter the old book store when she felt a hand on her arm.

"Hermione," Harry said, "a word with you, please."

"All right, then. Lead the way, I suppose." Confused, she followed him into the three broomsticks where they sat down at a table in the corner without bothering to order anything.

"It's about...Ed." Harry said hesitantly. Hermione said nothing. "I think you're trusting him to much."

"Oh? What makes you say that?" She replied icily.

"Well, think about it. You found him on the ground, he won't tell anyone anything about him, but you willingly tell him things that we've always hesitated to tell people. If I didn't know any better, I'd say-"

"DON'T say it, Harry. I can't believe you. Why can't you just trust that he's telling the truth? That he really DOESN'T remember his past? What reason could he possibly have to lie about something like that?"

"Well, Ron and I were talking, and we think he might be a-"

"A what? A death eater?" Harry nodded guiltily. "You're pathetic." Hermione stood up furiously and walked briskly out the door into the cold air. Harry watched her go and sighed. He knew from the start that their conversation would end badly.

* * *

Ed and Hermione were having no luck with the memory charms, so Hermione resorted to their old technique of straightforward interrogation.

"Do you remember anything about you're family? Did you have any siblings?"

"I think...Yeah, I did."

"Brother or sister? Older or younger? More than one?"

"I don't know." Said Ed. He'd remember small things, but then Hermione would ask him for more details that he couldn't remember. "Oh!"

"Do you remember something?"

"Yeah. My dad." _That man....I hate him..._ Thought Ed. "He left. When I was young."

Hermione wrote something down in her notebook that she was keeping for Ed's memories. She had only filled two pages since she had started writing in it. "Do you remember his name?" Unsurprisingly, Ed shook his head.

"That's all I remember about my family."

"Okay. Let's see, do remember any friends you had?"

"Yeah. There was a girl. I think I loved her..." Hermione's heart fell, although she didn't let it show on her face.

"How about the opposite of that. Was there anyone you hated?"

"Yeah, that guy I worked for, but you already know that. There was someone who hated me, though. He had a scar on his forehead." Hermione's first thought was Harry, although she knew that didn't make sense. "The scar was shaped like an X."

_This is working well_ Thought Hermione _I wonder why he's remembering so much all of a sudden..._

"I remember a funeral." Said Ed. Hermione wrote it down, but she asked no further questions on that subject. He could tell her if he wanted to, but she didn't want to force him.

"You said you had an alchemy teacher to train you. What was you're training like?"

"She left me on an island in the middle of a lake as training. She was...Scary." Ed shuddered

"What kind of research on alchemy did you do after you're training?"

"Just basic stuff, really. The same sort of things I'd been studying with her. One thing, though, she never taught about. I researched it without her. I was looking for the philosopher's stone..."

It was like a dam had been broken and all of Ed's memories were pouring out. There were still some things that he didn't remember, but it was more than he had remembered all month. They went late into the night, Hermione asking questions and Ed answering, both hoping to learn something that could get Ed in touch with all the people he missed.

* * *

Malfoy had heard the rumors going around. The new student that couldn't remember anything, that mudblood Hermione trying to make him remember. _I should help too._ He thought. _I can use my 'connections' with the ministry to help with this memory thing. Yes, I will help, in my own special way._

Hermione loves Ed, but Ed loves Winry. This isn't going to be a romantic fanfiction though.

If anyone has any idea why Ed could suddenly remember so much, please tell me. I can't think of a reason.


	7. Chapter 7

No, Malfoy doesn't like Ed, he hates him for 'humiliating' him on the train. He just wants to help in his own special way using his connections with the ministry. Think about it: What does the ministry have access to that makes people remember things? They're name starts with a D and they guard Azkaban...

Chapter 7

Lucias Malfoy stood at the gate that lead into Hogwarts, waiting for his son to come. They were going to go on a trip, as Draco had requested, although his father couldn't truly say he agreed with his son's choice of a vacationing location.

Draco walked down the path to the gate, accompanied by Snape who unlocked it so that the student could leave without trouble.

"Be back in three days, otherwise you'll have detention."

"Yes, yes, now we'll get going. Goodbye." Lucias grabbed his sons arm, and the two disappeared, apparating to wherever it is they were going. Snape turned and walked back to the school.

* * *

Malfoy's disappearance did not go unnoticed at Hogwarts. Although the teachers gave the repetitive, as well as true, excuse that he was on vacation with his father, few believed him. Harry was the most suspicious of them all.

"What's that little rat up to now?" He asked at the breakfast table.

"Dunno, but whatever it is, it can't be good." Answered Ron before stuffing his face with food.

"Oh, really you two, what makes you think that everything he does is evil? He might just be going on a trip, like everyone says."

"Hermione, this is Malfoy we're talking about. I don't know what he's up to but I think we'll find out soon enough. He's coming back tomorrow."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "You're so suspicious of everyone! First Ed, now Malfoy-"

"I've ALWAYS been suspicious of Malfoy! And why are you still mad about the Ed thing? I was just telling you what I thought-" Hermione stood up angrily and walked off without another word.

"What's with her today?" Asked Ron. Harry just sighed.

* * *

After they apparated away from Hogwarts, the Malfoys got on a boat leading out to their destination at sea. Fog surrounded them for over half the journey and they could barely see where they were going. After an hour of floating on the dark, almost black water, Draco was getting restless.

Then the island came into view. It was small and had a single building on it that took up nearly all the available space. Draco grinned.

They got off the boat and took out their wands, just in case. One of the few guards on the island came to greet them. He seemed depressed, not that he could help it. After all, he had been on the island for days.

"Are you Draco and Lucias Malfoy?" The two nodded. "We have what you requested. We'll help you bring it back to shore, as it's not a good idea to ride in a small boat with it for over five minutes. Follow me; it's on the west side of the island..."

* * *

Hermione and Ed continued their work in the library. Neither of them cared about the absence of Malfoy. Ed had hated him ever since the incident on the train and was glad that he was gone.

It was a Saturday, and most of the students were outside relaxing in the sun. To Ed and Hermione, that meant they had the library to themselves and there would be no distractions.

They were occupied by their books, so they had no way of knowing that Malfoy was back. They didn't know that he was walking up to the school, through the halls and standing right outside the door to library.

The door opened loudly. Ed paid no attention to the visitor, until he noticed that something was different. A wave of dread swept through him and he dropped the book in his hands. The image of Hermione pointing her wand at the black-cloaked figure in the doorway swam before his eyes. He was remembering something, but a voice in the back of his head told him that it wasn't something he wanted to remember. He remembered it anyways.

_There was a circle on the ground. It would grant his deepest wish, if he did the alchemy correctly. He placed his hands on the ground and light burst from the middle of the circle. He was ecstatic. It was going to work, and he'd see her again...._

_But it didn't work. There was a rebound. His leg was gone, then his arm, and then there was the armor...And then there was that thing._

_It wasn't human. Its limbs were tangled in each other, sticking out in the wrong places. The thing lay on its back, taking deep, wheezing breathes. It wasn't how he'd planned it. It had turned out wrong._

The sight of what was supposed to be his Mother pushed his mind over the edge. He closed his tear-filled eyes and fell to the ground.

* * *

Another short chapter(The shortest one yet!), but the next one's coming out soon. (Probably tomorrow or the day after) Thank you to everyone who gave an idea for why Ed was suddenly remembering things! It's actually a big help.


	8. Chapter 8

I'm going to tell you this right now so no one gets at all confused about this chapter: There are no alternate universes in this story. Amestris is country in Asia that most people have never heard of. Got it? Good.

Ed finally remembers something really useful!

Chapter 8

Ed had been unconscious for a week.

The whole school was worried, and rumors were flying around like owls. (None of them were even close to true, though.) Hermione and Malfoy were the only conscious ones who knew what really happened.

When Hermione told Harry and Ron what had happened in the library that night, they immediately jumped to conclusions.

"And I thought MY memories were bad," Said Harry. "I fainted too the first time I saw a dementor, but I woke up when it left."

"I wonder what could have happened to him that was so horrible..." Said Ron.

"What makes you think something happened to him? Maybe he did something and the guilt-"

"This is the death eater thing again, isn't it?" Hermione asked angrily. Harry stopped talking.

"I'm going to go check on him again."

"Again? You've been going to the hospital wing every day for the past week! Madam Pomfrey said that she'd tell you when he woke up."

Hermione didn't answer, she just walked away with pursed lips.

* * *

Edward woke up to see the plain white ceiling of the hospital wing. A plump little witch was sitting in a chair next to his bed reading a magazine.

"...Where am I?" He asked. The witch jumped then looked at him with a huge smile.

"Oh finally you're awake! I was worried; after all you've been unconscious for over a week."

"A WEEK?!"

"Yes, so as you see, I had good reason to be worried. Here, eat this." She handed him a large piece of chocolate. "Oh, hello Hermione, I was just about to get you. He's finally woken up..." The witch left the bedside and walked over to the door to greet the visitor. It was at that time that Ed remembered what had happened. The strange cloaked figure in the doorway of the library. The memory. Edward was glad that Hermione appeared to distract him before he could remember it again.

"I'm so glad you're finally awake! I was so worried, and so was everyone else. Are you all right?" Edward nodded and Hermione continued speaking at an amazingly fast speed. "A lot has happened while you were unconscious. Harry's a teacher now, actually, he's teaching defense against the dark arts to people who actually want to learn something instead of listening to that little toad lady drone on. There are so many rumors, too, about you! They're all pretty crazy; no one's guessed the truth yet. Oh, I really do hope you're all right-"

"Slow down!" Said Ed. He'd never heard Hermione talk so fast. "Can you please tell me what happened?" Hermione nodded.

"A dementor came. I don't know how it got in the school, Dumbledore would never allow it. But somehow it got in. I held it back, but then you fainted so I yelled and Professor Flitwick came in and did something to the dementor so I could take you to the hospital wing."

"What's a dementor?"

"It's a creature that sucks happiness out of people. It can do something called a dementors kiss, which sucks the soul out of someone's body through their mouth. When it comes into a room, it makes whoever's there remember the most horrible things that ever happened to them." That's when Hermione realized it. "If there was a dementor in the room, you must have remembered something!"

Ed didn't speak.

"Aren't you going to say something?" He shook his head and looked down at the floor. Hermione nodded. She wasn't going to make him tell her. It was his most horrible memory, after all.

* * *

"Edward, you have a visitor." Madam Pomfrey said. Ed expected Hermione, but it was someone else who had come to see him.

"Did that help?" Said the boy, smirking. Edward looked at him, confused.

"Did what help, Malfoy? Are you just here to bug me?"

"The dementor I sent to the library for you, of course! I thought it might help."

"...You did that?" Ed's hatred for the boy was growing.

"Yes, of course I did it. Who else has the connections to get one of those to come here? I thought it might help regain some of your memories, since that's what dementors do best. Making people remember things, whether they want to remember or not. I must say, I was surprised to hear that you were unconscious for a week after something as simple as a dementor attack. Even Potter isn't that much of a wimp."

Ed aimed a punch at Malfoy's head with his left hand. "Say one more word and I'll punch you again, with my right hand."

"Is there a difference?" Ed punched him again with his automail arm. This time he drew blood.

"OW! I'll tell my father about this!"

"Oh, shut up and stop being a baby. It's just a bruise." Ed grumbled. Madam Pomfrey quickly healed Malfoy and shooed him out of the room. She glared at Ed, although he ignored her.

"You have one more night here before you return to your classes." She said. "Then maybe this room will stop getting so crowded with visitors."

* * *

Ed was lost. He had taken just one wrong turn, and suddenly had no idea where he was. Then he made the second mistake of following Peeves' directions and had somehow ended up in the muggle studies classroom.

He sighed and absentmindedly spun the globe that was sitting on the shelf, wondering how he'd find his way back to the Gryffindor tower. That's when he saw it.

There, on the globe, one tiny country jumped out at him, an almost circular country with an indent at the northern-most point.

He'd been there, no, he'd LIVED there, in that tiny little country. He rushed out the door and ran, bumping into walls and suits of armor until he finally saw something that he recognized and followed his usual path back to the tower. Once he arrived at the common room he was out of breath, but he didn't stop.

_I have to find Hermione_ He thought. _Find her, and tell her what I remembered._ He scanned the heads of the people in the common room, quickly spotting her at a table near the staircases. He rushed over.

"Hermione!"

She looked up, confused. "Um...Is...Something wrong?" She asked, noticing how deeply he was breathing.

Ed shook his head. "I remembered where I'm from."

Hermione dropped her quill and stood up. "Where?"

"A country in Asia." He said. "It's called Amestris."


	9. Chapter 9

Yes, Amestris is in Asia. The reason: Asia's the biggest continent, so I figured that they had room for one more country. Amestris isn't in the MIDDLE of Asia, it's on the western edge, nearish to Europe. It's in Asia, but it's also kind of independent of Asia. They speak a different language than in most Asian countries (English) they look different than most Asians (As we all know) and they really aren't an Asian country, that's just where the land they live on happens to be. It's hard to move a country. End of conversation, good night.

Someone requested that I didn't keep the story centered, so I'm going to change that.

Chapter 9

Hermione looked at the card in her hand. _Platform 7, kings cross station _The first of three stations that lead to Amestris.

She boarded the rather dull, gray train in front of her and took the first seat she found. She didn't want to leave school and her classes, but Ed had remembered and that was reason enough for her to leave. She looked at the crumpled piece of paper in her hand.

_Central City, Amestris. Talk to Roy Mustang_

All she could think when she looked at that piece of paper was _Ed has horrible handwriting._

Not long after the train left the station, Hermione was asleep.

* * *

Al and Winry stood on a hill facing the town they had just exited. They had spent a long time in it, helping the police catch and arrest some troublesome thieves.

"That was a lot like what I did when I was traveling with Ed." Al said. "Only you aren't as reckless as him."

Winry laughed. "Good. His recklessness will be the death of him..."

"I hope you're wrong." Said Al. "I hope he's alive..."

"Of course he is! And we'll find him. Come on, let's get to the train station. It's about three miles away, and we need to catch our train." Al nodded and they set off.

* * *

Hermione yawned and looked out the window. They were at the station. She quickly got up, grabbed her luggage and ran off the train.

She had been on three trains in the last twenty-six hours, and she was exhausted. But she had to be somewhere, so she ignored her exhaustion and trudged through the thick crowds of Central station.

A boy ran by her, nearly knocking her over. A girl followed him, shouting "Al! Wait for me!" This person DID knock Hermione over.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" She said. "Here, let me help you with these." She picked up Hermione's suitcase and the piece of paper covered in Ed's untidy handwriting. She looked at the note for a few seconds and laughed.

"Wow, I can see that there's someone in the world with horrible handwriting. I'm really sorry for running into you. My name's Winry."

"Hello Winry, my name's Hermione." The other girl said. They shook hands.

"You have a strange accent. You aren't from around here, are you?" Hermione shook her head.

"No, I'm not from here. I'm from England. Um...The train that your friend boarded is about to leave, by the way."

"Oh shit, you're right! Sorry again, by!" With that, the girl ran off.

Hermione set off through the busy streets of Central. She had to ask directions twice, but she finally made it to Central military headquarters. Hermione stood and stared up the huge steps. She almost wanted to turn back, just to get away from the imposing building before her. But she had come for a reason, to help Ed, and she was going to go through with it.

She took a deep breath and started up the stairs.

* * *

I think I may have created a new world record for shortest chapter…the next chapter will be longer!

Haha, stupid Hermione! She met the person who could most easily tell her everything she wanted to know about Ed, but she let her walk off. Now isn't THAT annoying?

PS-I really don't know why Hermione went to Central instead of Ed. It's just better for the plot, I guess.


	10. Chapter 10

I don't think I did a very good job of keeping Armstrong in character, but he's hard to describe in writing. -__-

By the way, Mustang doesn't like Ed, he's just worried like everyone else. I hate yaoi, so don't worry about that...

Chapter 10

Major Armstrong was walking up the steps to central military headquarters, and strangely enough, there was someone doing the same right behind him. He turned around to see a bushy-haired girl walking determinedly up the stairs.

"Excuse me, miss," He said. "Only members of the military are allowed in this building, I'm sorry."

"Oh, but it's really important!" She said. "I need to speak to someone named Roy Mustang."

"What could be so urgent that you'd need to speak to him in particular? Does he know that you're coming?"

"Well, no, I've never met him. But someone sent me here and told me to speak to him. It's about...Edward..."

Suddenly, the man looked like he was paying more attention. "Edward? Do you mean it?" Hermione nodded, seeing that this man was weakening; he might let her through. "We haven't heard from him in over a month! I thought he had...Well, never mind. Is he all right?" Hermione nodded again. The man got a sparkle in his eye that hadn't been there before. He grabbed her hand and ran full speed into the building, through the winding halls and up three staircases with Hermione trailing behind him like a rag doll. When they reached Roy Mustang's office Hermione was out of breath from trying to keep up with him.

"This is Mustang's office. Go in." Hermione entered the room.

Sitting at a desk at the far side was a man, who Hermione assumed to be Mustang, although he looked a lot different than she had pictured him. She had imagined a proud old man, like the pictures of military generals that she had seen in muggle museums.

Instead, Mustang was a young, tired-looking man with black hair, only about twice her own age. Maybe younger. He looked up from the towering pile of paperwork on his desk. "Um...Can I help you, miss?" He asked.

"Yes...Are you Roy Mustang?" Hermione asked hesitantly. He nodded impatiently, looking like he wanted to get back to his work so he could leave.

"I need to talk to you. I was sent by Edward." Roy snapped to attention. He stood up quickly, knocking over his chair in the process.

"What do you know about him?! Is he okay?!" He nearly shouted.

"He's fine! Well, he was just in the hospital for a week, but that's not the point!"

Roy smiled. "Sounds just like Fullmetal. Always getting himself in the hospital somehow...So where is he? And how do you know him?"

Hermione sighed. "It's a long story, but I have to tell it anyways. Where do I start...Well, this isn't going to make any sense unless I explain magic first. But it's illegal to tell all this to muggles, so you have to promise not to tell anyone. Okay?" Not knowing what he was getting himself into, Roy promised.

Hermione explained all about magic and witches and wizards. She told him about Hogwarts and the people there, and Voldemort, Sirius Black, and number twelve Grimmauld place too, since that was part of the story. By the time she had finally reached the part where Edward came in, Roy felt as though nothing could possibly surprise him more than this if it was all true.

She told him about the day that she had found him lying near death on the ground, his time with them at Grimmauld place, diagon alley, the train, their time at Hogwarts...Then, she told him the reason she was there.

"He doesn't remember his past life." She explained. "He remembers only things like what he learned in school and the basic outlines of people that he knew."

"Who does he remember?" Asked Roy.

"Well, he said there was someone that he works for that he hates...Um, I'm guessing that's you. He said he had an alchemy teacher who scared him..." Roy shivered. He had met Izumi before and understood Ed's thoughts completely. "He also remembered someone that he cared about more than anyone else. Do you know who any of those people are?"

Roy nodded. "I think you're right about the person he works for, that is me, most likely. His alchemy teacher is named Izumi Curtis, and she is rather scary. As for the person he cares about...That sounds like his little brother, Al. I can't believe that he really forgot Al, after all they've been through...Damn, this must be serious..." Roy hid his face in his hands for a second before looking up. "Tell me, do you know how Ed lost his limbs?" He asked suddenly. Hermione shook her head. "Well, then I'll tell you everything I know..."

This time Hermione was the one listening closely as Roy told an unbelievable story of his own. _No wonder he fainted from the dementors...All the things he's been through...Harry, you idiot, you were wrong, he isn't a death eater. He's the farthest thing from it!_

After Roy's explanation, it all made sense; The pocketwatch, the mechanical limbs, his talent at alchemy, his reaction to the dementors...Hermione knew the whole story now, but she wasn't sure if letting Ed remember it was as kind as she had thought.

* * *

Al and Winry had gotten off the train at kings cross station nearly six hours ago. Winry suggested that they stay at a hotel in London and continue their journey the next day, but Al had insisted that they keep walking. Soon, there were no more buildings in sight, only countryside, and Winry was fed up.

"Al." She said stiffly, "We're lost."

"No, we aren't! We'll find an inn soon, I promise! We aren't lost!"

"Al, we've been following this train track for _six hours_! Shouldn't we have just taken the train?"

"Well, I didn't know a train came this way."

"Where are we going, anyways?"

"I'm not sure. Hopefully toward Edward."

Winry felt like she was about to explode. "DO YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THAT YOU DON'T KNOW WHERE WE'RE GOING?! WHY, GOD, WHY DID I AGREE TO GO ON THIS WILD GOOSE CHASE WITH YOU?! YOU'RE JUST LIKE YOUR BROTHER, YOU NEVER PLAN AHEAD! WE SHOULD JUST-"

Al cut her off by pointing at something in the distance. "Look, a light! A think we're near a town!" Winry turned around and stared in the direction Al was pointing in.

"A light! We're saved!" They ran in the direction of the light, nearly jumping for joy.

* * *

Al and Winry stood staring through the bars of the huge metal gate at an even huger medieval-looking stone castle.

"W-who do you think lives there?" Asked Winry in a small voice. "It's huge..."

"I don't know, but be quiet and listen." Voices were coming from behind the gate as three men walked down the path from the castle.

"...If I had known what you were going to do with it, I would have to have alerted Dumbledore of course. It is illegal to use dementors against anyone but criminals."

"But father! That Edward kid was asking for it, you should have seen the way he strutted around-" _Edward?_ Thought Al. _Big brother?_

"Draco, that is quite enough of your lies!" The other voice snapped back. "Now, Severus, kindly open the gate so I can leave this old hellhole and get on with my life as soon as possible." The gate opened with a creak, and Al and Winry suddenly stood in front of a huge figure wearing a black cloak. Both of them were instantly filled with a feeling of dread.

His mother lying dead on the ground, the strange twisted creature that was supposed to take her place, the pile of ashes that used to be his home...These images, among others, flashed through Al's mind and he immediately lost consciousness.

Winry was still standing, but she shook all over as the worst memory of her life played a million times over in her head_…'Your parents died in Ishbal. We're sorry for your loss...' _Images of Ed flashed through her mind. He was covered in blood that ran freely from the places where his arm and leg used to be, covering his brother's arms as well as the floor around him...

Winry fell to the ground. She was still conscious, but her shaking legs weren't enough to support her anymore.

"Severus, Draco, get them to the hospital wing. I'll take the dementor back to where it came from." A bored voice said. "Farewell." A loud crack filled the air and the two remaining men helped Winry to her feet.

"Come on, you and your friend need to get to the hospital wing." Another voice said, sounding annoyed. _Crap, more babies like that Edward guy. I wonder if they know him._

* * *

I'm considering having Hermione talk to Izumi too, but I'm not sure yet. So please tell me; should she or should she not talk to Izumi?


	11. Chapter 11

Thank you so much to Horselvr4evr123 for suggesting the plot twist that formed this chapter into something worth reading! Of course, I also had to add some of my stupid ideas into it too. I think I ruined it...Oh well.

I didn't do a very good job of keeping Izumi in character, so please don't get mad at me about it.

PS- I've been writing this on yahoo notepad and the story's finally gotten so long that I needed continue it on a separate note. 8D Yay!

Chapter 11

Roy finished telling his story and sat back in his chair. "That's everything I know."

"Thank you very much for telling me all that. But...I need to know all the details, and I can tell that there's something missing from the story. Is there anyone else who might be able to fill those things in for me?"

"...You're pretty picky, you know that?"

"Well, this IS rather important." Hermione said haughtily.

"All right, all right. There is one person who might be able to tell you what you need to know. Are you up for another train ride?"

* * *

It had taken convincing, but the man had eventually let them inside, at the mention of Edward's name. He beckoned for them to follow him into the back room of the small butcher's shop in Dublith.

"Through this door is our house." He said in a low voice. "She should be in the kitchen. Tell her I sent you and that it's about Edward. She doesn't say it, but she really is worried about him. Make sure she doesn't kill you." Hermione nodded, and desperately hoped that his last sentence had been a joke. She and Roy stepped through the door nervously.

"Hello?" Roy called. "Is izumi Curtis here?" A knife flew by his face and stuck in the wall next to his shoulder. He flinched.

"Who are you and what are you doing in my house?!" Yelled the woman who had thrown the knife.

"Please calm down ma'am!" Hermione said quickly. "Sig let us in. I have to ask you about something. I need to know some things about Edward."

"...All right, fine. Speak. I've always had a soft spot for those idiot apprentices of mine." She said, sighing heavily. "Well, you can come in. But the other man stays outside. This is no place for dogs of the military." Roy nodded and left quickly, not wanting another knife to be thrown at him. (Hawkeye's gun was bad enough.)

Hermione started her story the same way she had when she was talking to Roy. She began explaining about magic, and noticed that Izumi's reaction was drastically different than Roy's had been. Instead of downright disbelief on her face, her eyes grew wide and a strange look crossed her face. Regret?

By the time Hermione had started to explain about Hogwarts, Izumi had had enough. She held up her hand to stop Hermione from continuing. "Don't say anymore." She said. "I already know the rest. The Hogwarts houses, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin were named after the four founders of the school. The great hall has a ceiling that mimics the sky above it. The secret passageway underneath the whomping willow leads to the shrieking shack in Hogsmeade, where Remus Lupin went to transform into a werewolf each month."

Hermione stared at her, surprised. "Yes...How do you know all of this?" _Now THIS is certainly unexpected._ She thought.

"Before you finish your story, I'd like to tell one of my own." Hermione nodded and Izumi began.

"This isn't a very long, or otherwise important story, but I'd like to spare you the breath of explaining all this to me. I went to Hogwarts myself once, a long time ago. I was in Gryffindor, and I was a pureblood witch. I doubt my family would be excited to hear that I married a muggle, but that's not the point. When I was a fifth year in Hogwarts, I started dating Sirius Black." Izumi ignored the look of surprise on Hermione's face.

"I learned all about the 'marauders' and their animal forms. I was the only person that knew what they did at night. I even joined them a couple of times (although not when they went to the shrieking shack. That was far too risky.)

"We graduated together, and we were all getting settled into our jobs when I got the news that Sirius Black had been put in Azkaban. That was the day that I gave up magic and started practicing alchemy. A few months after that day, I met Sig and we got married. I haven't given magic a single thought until now." She fell silent.

"...You dated Sirius Black?" Hermione said disbelievingly.

Izumi glared at her. "I suppose I should have guesses you'd react like that. After all, he's the most infamous wizard in the world. But just remember that we were all in school, before he committed murder of any kind. I had no way of knowing what would happen."

"No, no, that's not why I'm surprised! You see, Sirius Black is innocent. Peter Pettigrew is the one who murdered all those people, Sirius was just framed!"

Izumi's eyes burned with anger. "That little rat! I always knew he'd do something horrible like that! When I get my hands on him, I'll wring his pathetic little neck!"

Hermione shivered. She had the feeling that Izumi would keep her promise. "So why exactly did you give up magic?" She asked, changing the subject.

Izumi relaxed slightly and sighed. "Because when I learned that someone like HIM could use a power like THAT to kill, I...I didn't want to practice it any more. Not something that could kill so easily. Even now that I know that he's innocent, the thought that ANYONE could kill like that just makes me sick. I can't stay away from all things used to kill, but by keeping away from at least one, I feel...relieved." Izumi shook her head. "But that's not the point. You came to ask me about something, right?"

"Oh, yes. I need to know about Edward's past. I found him half-dead on the sidewalk one night, and he's forgotten everything. Even his brother, who I've heard was very close to him. I need to learn about his past so that I can help him remember everything..."

Hermione explained the situation to Izumi, who was a great help. She knew far more about Edward's past than Roy, including the grotesque details of the failed human transmutation. She talked for well over an hour, until Hermione's notebook was completely filled with notes. Then she stopped.

"That's all I know. So what are you going to do now?"

"I'm going to bring Ed his notebook and hope that my notes help him get his memories back. Thank you very much for your help by the way."

"Where is he?" Izumi asked abruptly.

"He's at Hogwarts. Why?"

"Hogwarts, hm? Well, that settles it. I'm coming with you."

* * *

Another short chapter… (Guilt)

I read Elsewhere By Gabrielle Zevin and I'm almost as obsessed with it as I am with FMA. XD I can't stop thinking about it! It's bugging me!

Another thing that's bugging me is that I really want to write an FMA Christmas story...But I have no ideas. -__-

Well anyways, there are only about three chapters left! Hooray! Then I can concentrate on some of my other stories. :D


	12. Chapter 12

Sorry for the wait, I was too busy procrastinating to write anything. I'm just lazy like that; I'm too lazy to even come up with a good excuse. -__- Enjoy the chapter, I guess...

Chapter 12

The mirror of Erised; Current location: Hogwarts, the room of requirement.

* * *

Harry didn't care what Hermione said, he was suspicious of Edward and with reason too. He didn't tell them anything about himself. Amnesia was the perfect excuse, but it was obviously just that; an excuse. He wouldn't even tell his own last name.

Harry and Ron talked about for a long time while Hermione was gone, (most of the conversations taking place during history of magic class) trying to think of a way to find out Ed's true intentions.

"We could read his mind." Suggested Ron.

"I don't know if that's possible." Harry replied. "Whoever thought of that dementor idea was a genius, although they should have realized that he wouldn't tell anyone what he saw."

"Maybe he didn't care what Ed saw. Maybe he just wanted to scare him."

"We could do something like that."

"Like what?"

"Something that would make him remember something whether he has amnesia or not." That is how they thought of it.

It took some time to find out where the mirror had been hidden, but with some help from Fred and George, they figured it out.

* * *

Ed followed Harry down the hall to a blank wall. "Um...If you don't mind me asking...What are we doing here?" Ed asked skeptically.

"I'm going to show you something. Just wait a second..." Harry closed his eyes and walked back and forth along the wall, causing a door to appear. "Come on."

Ed followed him through the door, barely believing that it was actually there. _A few months ago, I would never have believed that all this was real. _He realized.

Inside the door was a huge room with piles and piles of stuff everywhere they turned. There were birdcages, jars, crowns, robes...Almost anything you can think of. Some things were dusty, although other objects looked like they had been dropped here only minutes ago.

Ed looked around, stunned. "W-Where are we?" He asked in a small voice. His surroundings made him feel tiny, although he hated to admit it.

"This is the room of requirement. I heard that this version of the room was messy, although I had no idea..." Harry replied in an equally small voice. "Anyways, I need to show you something. Fred and George said that Filch put it near the door..." He scanned the room with his eyes until he spotted it.

"Over here." Harry said. Ed followed him over to the dusty old mirror. Harry looked in for a split second before averting his eyes, as he remembered what Dumbledore had told him about looking in this mirror for too long.

"What's the big deal? It's just a mirror." Ed said, sounding annoyed.

"Come here; look in it from this angle." Harry directed. "Tell me what you see."

Ed stood in the spot that Harry had specified, wondering what was going on. He reluctantly looked up at the glass and was taken by surprise. There was him, as he had expected, but there was more too. A boy who looked similar to him, although he had hair of a slightly darker shade than Ed's, and was a little taller as well. Ed wasn't sure who this boy was, but the instant he saw his face, he wanted nothing more than for this scene to be a reality, to look the boy in the eyes and tell him that he cared about him.

In Ed's automail hand he held a small red stone, which he recognized immediately from the alchemy books that he had been reading.

"What do you see?" Asked Harry.

"There's me...And a boy, I'm not sure who he is though...I'm holding the philosophers stone-"

"I knew it!" Harry said triumphantly. "I knew you weren't as innocent as you acted. So what do you want the stone for? Money? Fame? Immortality? Whatever goal you have, if it involves the stone it's-"

Ed, who had been holding himself back as much as could during Harry's speech, had finally had enough. He punched Harry right in the face with his right hand and pulled it back, metal fingers coated in blood.

"Shut up! You don't know anything!" He said angrily. "I made a promise, and I can't break it! I've broken so much before, I've broken him, but this promise must be kept! He's the only family I have left!" The words flew from his mouth without him thinking about them. He didn't know where they were coming from, but he knew that they were his own, they were his words and his thoughts.

He looked at Harry sitting stunned on the ground, bleeding from the nose and turned away. He left the room and walked down the hall toward Gryffindor tower. Tears were threatening to fall from his eyes, although he hid it well. He realized now that he had been doing that his whole life.

* * *

Ginny entered the hospital wing, sighing. She didn't usually get detention, but she had, just this once, all thanks to Fred and George. She shook her head, not wanting to remember the details of the prank that they had so kindly allowed her to 'help' with.

She had to admit that she had gotten it easy with her detention compared to what Harry had had to do. She shuddered at the thought before opening the door. All she had to do was help Madam Pomfrey for an hour or so; not all that hard.

"Oh, hello ." Madam Pomfrey greeted cheerily. "Your job will be relatively easy. In fact, you really don't have to do much at all. I hope you brought a book or something to do when you finish. I have to keep you for at least an hour, even if there's no more work for you." Ginny's heart sunk. She could deal with hard work, but boredom wasn't her thing.

Madam Pomfrey gave her a list of assignments that Ginny finished quickly. Mainly it was cleaning; making the beds and sweeping the floor, among other tasks. Ginny sat down in a chair between the beds of the only two patients in the room.

"All you need to do is watch them until they wake up. We think they may be muggles, in which case you'll need to think of an excuse for any magical happenings that they see. Make sure to give them some chocolate, they came in because of a dementor attack. The girl didn't faint, she's just sleeping, so she's likely to wake up soon. Give her a little chocolate just in case." Madam Pomfrey instructed.

Ginny sighed and got to work; or in this case, sighed and did nothing at all.

* * *

Ginny had been sitting glumly in that chair for twenty minutes when the girl woke up. "...Where am I?" She asked blearily.

"Um, just a..A hospital." Ginny lied, remembering her assignment.

"Most hospitals aren't made out of stone." The girl said, observing her surroundings. "What happened to me, by the way? I was standing at a gate and this huge black thing just appeared out of nowhere and I saw..." Her voice trailed off.

Ginny was nervous. She never had been very good at lying, but they couldn't tell muggles anything. She changed the subject. "What's your name?"

"I'm Winry Rockbell. I...Um, where's Al?" She asked suddenly.

"Al? I think he's the one in that bed right there." Ginny pointed at the bed on her left. Winry looked relieved.

"Good. I don't know what I'd do if I lost both of those idiot brothers."

"What do you mean?" Ginny asked.

"Al's older brother...Disappeared a few months ago. We've been looking for him, but we have no idea where he could be." Winry said sadly. "His name's Edward."

"I know someone named Edward." She said. "It's a nice name, isn't it? He's a rather interesting person, for lack of a better word. He's got blond hair, long enough to braid, which he does. He has gold eyes, too, which is about the oddest eye color I've ever heard of. He's also got two metal limbs, although he tries to hide that. And he has amnesia too; he can barely remember a thing."

Winry stood up abruptly and nearly shouted, "Where is he? That's the person I'm looking for!" She was on the verge of tears, hoping beyond hope that this was real, that she could finally see him again. "Please, please take me to him!"

Ginny hesitated for a moment before making her decision. -I'll probably get in trouble for skipping detention and letting someone who might be a muggle wander around Hogwarts, but...Seeing someone he knows might make Ed remember something, and then Hermione will stop worrying about him so much.-

"All right." Ginny said. "Follow me."

* * *

1- Ed doesn't remember his last name. If he mentioned it in another chapter, that was a mistake and I'll try to fix it. If he knew his last name, it would be easy for Hermione to find where he was from, and there would be no story. (He is famous, after all.)

2- Harry doesn't know that mind reading is possible because this is taking place before Christmas; aka, Harry hasn't started his "special" lessons with Snape yet.

3- The mirror of Erised bit was unnecessary, but I needed something to fill up space.

Two chapters left!


	13. Chapter 13

This chapter is extremely short. Enjoy!

Chapter 13

The train ride to Hogwarts was uneventful, as well as the walk through Hogsmeade to the Hogwarts gate. Hermione had prepared it so that Hagrid would be the one to let her in when she got back, because he was the only one who would agree to let muggles inside.

"It looks just like I remember it..." Izumi said, sighing. "I threw Severus at that tree once. He was in the hospital wing for a week."

Hermione found herself thinking of how lucky she had been to be at Hogwarts at a different time than Izumi Curtis.

* * *

Hermione lead the way to Gryffindor tower and opened the door to find the common room filled, yet completely silent. There was a crowd of people, all staring at something in the center of the room. Curious, Hermione pushed her way through the crowd to see what was the center of attention.

She felt like she had been hit by a train. She admitted now, in her head at least, that she had always loved Ed. SO imagine how she felt, seeing him there in the center of the room, barely moving, with a surprised look on his face...

* * *

The next chapter is the last one, and it's definitely not going to end how you expect it too. Aren't you excited?


	14. Chapter 14

Sorry for the wait and the lame ending to the story. But still, at least it's over! Yay!!! Let's celebrate!!!!

I'm so happy to finally be done with this. Now I can work on some of my other stories….I really shouldn't try to write so many at once. Oh well.

Now, I present…

Chapter 14

She felt like she had been hit by a train. She admitted now, in her head at least, that she had always loved Ed. So imagine how she felt, seeing him there in the center of the room, barely moving, with a surprised look on his face, kissing another girl. (Lame ending, I know, but EdxWinry rocks, so I had to include it...)

* * *

When he kissed Winry, all his memories came flooding back. The gate hadn't had a strong enough hold on him, and the shock of the kiss caused the final effect on him.

He realized that maybe he shouldn't have been so eager to get his memories back; after all the pain he'd lived through, maybe just not knowing was safer. If that was the case, he'd never have to ask the question; he could live the rest of his life not knowing or caring about whether Al got his body back or not. But that wasn't going to happen so he did ask.

"Where is Al?"

* * *

Edward stood over the bed of his unconscious brother and cried. He had tried to hold it in for nearly four years, but now that everything he had wished for had come true, it didn't matter anymore. It didn't matter that both Hermione and Winry were watching from the door, or the fact that Al couldn't hear what he was saying to him. He cried and spoke to Al, telling him to wake up soon to see his face again.

* * *

"They really care about each other, don't they?" Hermione said. "So Al was trying to find Ed all along...And I ran into you too at the train station and didn't even notice."

Winry nodded. "I don't think Ed has done a single thing that wasn't to help his brother in the last few years...And then he just disappears like that. I can only imagine how Al felt."

"...I wonder how he could have forgotten Al, seeing as they care about each other so much. I couldn't help but feel bad for Ed; he wanted so much to remember, but everything that was important to him was forgotten. But when I found out what his past was like, I wondered if it was really a good thing for him to remember at all."

Winry was silent.

* * *

Alphonse had been asleep for days, dreaming about things he'd rather forget. He wanted nothing more than to wake up to see his brother's face, but he knew that it wouldn't be like that. Maybe it would be Winry, telling him that she had an idea of where to go next, even though it would most likely be another dead end.

He was very surprised to wake up and find that his wish had come true; Edward was smiling at him through his tears, and Al could tell how happy he was to see the face that he hadn't seen in over four years.

"Edward?" He asked timidly. Ed nodded.

_Could this really be him? _Al's heart leapt. But then something else occurred to him. _Or is it a trick? Could it be Envy? Yes...That must be it...This is just too convenient. I've been looking for him for such a long time, and now he just appears? It must be a trap...I need to get out of here and look for him again. I need to kill his imposter!_ Al's head still hurt from the dementor attack, and he wasn't thinking straight. He sat up and looked into the face of his 'Brother'.

"Leave me alone! I need to find Ed! Stop getting in the way!" He yelled, aiming a bunch at the face in front of him. It connected with Ed's jaw, causing a small amount of blood to drip fro his upper lip. Ed stepped back stunned, looking hurt.

"Al, it's me! What are you doing?"

Al ignored him and leapt out of bed. "Let me leave! I don't have time to deal with you right now! I need to find Ed, he might be nearby!" In panic, he kicked Ed hard in the knee, knocking him off his feet. He took a step towards the door, but Winry grabbed him before he could get any further.

"Al, this IS your brother! Is there something wrong with your head?! You should be happy to see him!" She said angrily. _Stupid Al...I don't know how Ed's going to react to this..._

"No, he's not Ed, he can't be! Ed is gone! This is Envy!" Al cried. "Let me go!"

"This is Ed! Go apologize to him!" Winry growled. Their yelling fight continued for a few more minutes, and by the time Al had calmed down and realized that Winry was right Ed was no longer on the floor where they had last seen him.

"W-Where did he go?" Al asked helplessly.

"I think he left...He probably thinks you don't care about hi-"

"No!" said Al. "I do care about him! I need to find him...Damn, I shouldn't have said those things...." He ran to the door again, and this time no one stopped him.

* * *

Hermione had spent the last half-hour explaining Ed's past to Harry and Ron, and they seemed to be having second thoughts about some of the events of the year so far.

"...I guess I was wrong about him." Said Harry sheepishly.

"Yes, you were." Hermione scowled.

"So he's lost his parents, too. But...I suppose it's different for him. He actually did something about it, unlike me. Even if it was a mistake, he cared enough to do something like that...Shit. I feel like an asshole."

"You are an asshole." Hermione said, walking off.

Harry and Ron watched her go, with a slight feeling of relief.

"Why's she always like that?" Harry asked.

"Don't worry, she'll be back tomorrow. We all know that her life would be boring without us."

* * *

Ed sat against the wall near the charms classroom, deep in thought.

_I guess I should have considered that he might react like that...I mean, it's been a while. I really did just leave him, without telling him what my plan was. After that, it's no surprise that he hates me. It's all my fault...He was nothing but a suit of armor for years, and then even when I made it right, I hurt him by leaving. I really am a horrible person... _

He looked up at the wall opposite to him. Ironically, a suit of armor stood there. _What's up with all this armor? It's like this place is designed to make me feel guilty._

A few feet away there was a loud crash. Ed quickly turned his head to see if there was danger.

"Who's there?" He called.

"Edward?" A voice replied. Someone popped out from behind a suit of armor that had fallen over. Their face brightened and they ran over to him.

Ed turned away, worried that his tears wouldn't be seen. _Why did Al come over here? Does he want to hurt me again?_

"Ed, I'm sorry about what I did...I wasn't thinking straight and I...I didn't want to get my hopes up that you were really back. I was scared. I know it's no excuse, but it's the truth. So please, please don't be mad at me. I care about you."

"What do you mean? You have nothing to be sorry about. Everything that happened was my fault, and now you've found me but you're scared that it's not actually me...I have no right to be mad at you. But you have every right to be mad at me. You were stuck in that body for years, then I left you without warning, and now that you found me the only thing I've done is worry you more. It's my fault. I'm sorry." Ed looked at his feet.

_He's not taking the blame to be noble...He really thinks it's his fault. _Al realized. _That can't be healthy._

"Ed, what happened isn't your fault and no one has ever said that it was, except for you. If you hadn't have put my soul in that armor, I would be dead. It doesn't matter anyway, because you finally managed to save me. So now I can ask you what I've been wondering all this time; what did you give to get our bodies back?"

"'Bodies'? Plural? Al, I never had any intention of getting my own arm and leg back, you know. If I did get them back, it would be a nice bonus, but that wasn't my true intention." Ed drummed on the floor with his metal fingers. Al looked at him sadly.

"To get your body back, I gave my memories. I could barely remember anything...I forgot you, even. But it wasn't like normal memory loss. I could still tell that there was a memory there, but I couldn't see it. It nearly drove me insane, sometimes. But I got them all back, when I..." He blushed. "Well, never mind. It was an extreme shock that made me remember, and we'll leave it at that."

Hermione watched from around the corner as the two brothers got reacquainted. She didn't know what to think.

* * *

Al had recovered from the dementors after a few chocolate filled days. Izumi stayed at Grimmauld place for a day, to talk to Sirius again. (After she got the whole story out of Edward, of course. She asked for every single detail, and that's what he gave her.)

It was time for them to leave. They were all packed up and standing by the door. They were leaving at night, so that curious students wouldn't be a problem. The only student that was aloud to see them off was Hermione, since she had been played a big part in reuniting them all.

She said goodbye to Al and Roy relatively quick since she had not spoken to the much. She was cautious while telling Izumi farewell, remembering the stories of Ed's time learning from her.

She had grown to be friends with Winry in her short stay at Hogwarts, despite the fact that she had kissed Edward. Winry was yelling at Ed about something, and Ed looked quite relieved when Hermione interrupted to say goodbye.

Ed was the last one she said goodbye too, and though she really didn't want to see him leave she said it anyways.

"Well, goodbye, I suppose..." She said.

Ed nodded. "Thanks."

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, confused.

"You helped me get my memories back and see Al again. You actually believed me, unlike that asshole Harry Potter who kept calling me a 'death eater' or something. So thanks. And goodbye."

With that Ed smiled a beautiful smile and turned to leave with the rest of the group. The doors shut behind them and Hermione was left standing there, staring at the place where Ed had been standing.

That smile had caught her off guard. She realized after seeing it that it was the only true smile that had been on his face ever since she found him on that warm evening in August.

She also realized that it meant she had succeeded; she had gotten his memories back, reunited him with the only family he had left, and made him Happy. She had added one more happy person to the world, and although some people would say that that wasn't much of a success for roughly two months of hard work, to her it was enough.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~The End*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~


End file.
